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Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

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Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#261

Post by josephg »

shuckles wrote: post #188
josephg wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During the covid crisis I’ve stopped telling my American friends about the situation here in Australia. There’s been some political mud throwing about which state managed it best - but we brought the numbers to zero, and have done it as a nation several times now. Since covid, talking to my friends in the USA about Australia feels like punching down. You might have more earning potential in the US, but I’d much rathe…

I think there is a lot of fundamental attribution error going around when trying to explain relative success at controlling COVID. There are states with little of the infrastructure for public health management you've touted in Australia that have also controlled the disease. There are states with the same infrastructure (e.g. UK) which haven't. Australia is also incomparable to the United States with 1/10th the popu…

A lot of the science is already in on this. The most effective interventions are hygiene (washing hands), masks, social distancing and contact tracing (and quarantining close contacts). This is low tech stuff, which is one of the reasons many poor countries have been able to do very well at controlling the pandemic.

Apparently the #1 predictive factor for a country to have good health outcomes is trust between the citizens and their government. Small countries have done better than big countries, but that may be a side effect of public trust generally being better in smaller countries.

Source: this podcast (based on a study) https://overcast.fm/+YQ31Gx6tw

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#262

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

tim333 wrote: post #257
tonfa wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, most countries do so you're not double taxed. But you still need to declare, and esp. for Switzerland likely pay extra taxes to the US.

The UK has a tax treaty with the US but it didn't stop one Boris Johnson being hit with many thousands in US taxes when he sold his house in spite of having lived in the UK most of his life.

Was his house in the US or UK? If it was in the US the it doesn't matter, the local government is gonna get theirs.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#263

Post by dontbesilly »

SlavikCA wrote: post #111

I was born in Russia. That's my red passport. My parent moved with us to USA, when I was 18. That's my dark blue passport. When I was working as Software engineer in California, our company got aquired and they asked us to relocate to Canada. I got PR here and soon will have light blue passport here. Personal thoughts: USA citizenship gives me best opportunities and access to best job market. Canada citizenship gives…

> or left cancel culture

This doesn't really exist, it's a right-wing myth used to fuel all sorts of "conservatives are under attack" type nonsense.

Weaponized victim complex bullshit.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#264

Post by eric4smith »

the_local_host wrote: post #24
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have only a French passport so far, and I can settle in 31 countries without any issues. Sometimes you just get the right one ;-)

By "settle", do you mean "visa not required", or permanent residency?

Permanent residency or even long time multi-year residence.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#265

Post by disabled »

vecinu wrote: post #253
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think being a worker and having to have a job in RO would be soul crushing, from what I hear from friends and family. Overall, for most of the population, yes. However, if you're a tech worker, no, as that puts you in the top %10 of earners. In many ways, Romania is like the US, high inequality, low taxes, and poor quality social services, unless you have a corporate job, then you can live like a King as the huge…

> In many ways, Romania is like the US This made me chuckle, I often compare California to Romania (since I know both places well) and can contrast the corruption, money waste, terrible infrastructure and inequality in a way that friends / family that moved from Romania can't agree with. They always paint Romania as a third world *hole that's incomparable to the US/Canada or other "civilized" countries. I follow the…

> In RO, you literally have to fly to Germany/Switzerland or elsewhere to get quality healthcare and if you have a really bad accident, you may not make it to the hospital to get the care you need.

> That's the one thing keeping me from moving to RO today, even with its extremely low cost of living. I can't risk my family's health on the disastrous healthcare system there.

I have the same issue here in Croatia, and I spend a lot of time on the islands. There is no such thing as medivac (air rescue) here.

The solution to this is to get an International SOS plan, which covers pre-existing conditions. I know all about this because my sister was an expat living in one of the most corrupt countries in the world, Equatorial Guinea (Africa). If one became gravely ill there, you would be medevac-ed to Munich, Germany. Hers was an employer sponsored plan though.

You only have to declare one of your nationalities (as in citizenships) when filling out the forms, and I confirmed that this was proper procedure (you can also reside in the country of your nationality under the terms and conditions of the expat plan). I declared myself as a United States citizen. You also state where you plan on living the majority of the year (Croatia). The expat plan is something like $750/year, which may seem expensive. However, if the incident is severe they will also repatriate you back to your home country of citizenship. In my case, this would be the United States. I want to be repatriated where my family is, if I get gravely ill.

If you get very sick in Croatia and need to be medevac-ed out, they fly you to Vienna, Austria.

Here are where the "expatriate plans" are: https://buymembership.internationalsos.com/expatriate/

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#266

Post by rolandog »

kingosticks wrote: post #185
Scoundreller wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of expats have gotten more US stimulus cheques than they’ve paid in US taxes. But it doesn’t make up for the dozens of hours of paperwork and careful tip-toeing on investments and other garbage. Just an FYI: one hiccup I heard of giving up your US citizenship is that banks didn’t recognize you could be born in USA but not a US citizen.

> Just an FYI: one hiccup I heard of giving up your US citizenship is that banks didn’t recognize you could be born in USA but not a US citizen. I had this issue just last month with a UK financial institution (Raisin). I tried to explain it but they obviously were not interested. I actually still have my citizenship (I'd love to renounce but that's currently impossible) but I felt it was worth pointing out their pol…

Not to mention, that there are countries that ask you to renounce your other citizenships when taking theirs (Dutch citizenship comes to mind).

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#267

Post by Dma54rhs »

dontbesilly wrote: post #263
SlavikCA wrote: post #111

I was born in Russia. That's my red passport. My parent moved with us to USA, when I was 18. That's my dark blue passport. When I was working as Software engineer in California, our company got aquired and they asked us to relocate to Canada. I got PR here and soon will have light blue passport here. Personal thoughts: USA citizenship gives me best opportunities and access to best job market. Canada citizenship gives…

> or left cancel culture This doesn't really exist, it's a right-wing myth used to fuel all sorts of "conservatives are under attack" type nonsense. Weaponized victim complex bullshit.

Just like white/male privilege in America that is made up by people who like to blame others for their failures in life. Tons of victim complex in America.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#268

Post by disabled »

vecinu wrote: post #250
disabled wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have a Romanian passport so it's easy to jump over the pond but I'd love my US residency and all the years I put in to be able to start switching jobs more easily. I don't want a ridiculous amount of wealth but I'd love to have a head start and secure financial freedom for my family. That is 100% totally understandable, and is basically the American dream, as you know. No matter what, as soon as you can: After yo…

It's interesting you say that, I last decided to skip US citizenship due to the fact that the IRS will haunt you for taxes (Double tax treaties, foreign tax credits yeah yeah but it's a hassle) and as mentioned in other replies, being a "US Person" is such a hassle for opening foreign bank or brokerage accounts. I value the point of citizenship and passports but getting the US one seems to be shooting yourself in the…

> It's interesting you say that, I last decided to skip US citizenship due to the fact that the IRS will haunt you for taxes (Double tax treaties, foreign tax credits yeah yeah but it's a hassle) and as mentioned in other replies, being a "US Person" is such a hassle for opening foreign bank or brokerage accounts.

Sorry, but this is not true at all.

I was being dead serious about suggesting that you might as well naturalize as a United States citizen.

You are already liable for US taxes for at least the next 10 years abroad, from the date you have been judicially determined to have abandoned your green card. You do not acquire this status by not fulfilling the requirements of your green card, either: you need to fill out an I-407 form or a Letter of Intent to Abandon Residence Status. Then, at some point, you receive a judicial determination and have to pay taxes for the next 10 years to the US, from that date, while abroad.

See: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/visa-green-card-hold...

The worst part is that due to FATCA, they can literally seize your bank accounts that you hold abroad.

Anyways, this is a good overview for "playing your cards", with respect to pensions and taxes, while abroad, as a green card holder or an American: https://www.goldinglawyers.com/green-card-holder-foreign-inc...

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#269

Post by refurb »

disabled wrote: post #196
refurb wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m surprised your OOP was that high with “good benefits”. I work outside of tech for a Fortune 500 and my premiums are $1200 per year with a max OOP of $2500. Unless a plan is grandfathered in, the ACA limits OOP to ~$9k per year. https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/out-of-pocket-maximum-li...

It was for a Fortune 500 company, historically ranked in the top 10. The monthly premium was ~$950/month with a yearly out-of-pocket of $9,000. Yearly premium liability: ($950/month)*(12 months/year)= $11,400/year Out-of-Pocket liability: $9,000/year So, the minimum healthcare liability that I theoretically have in the US (which is never the case for me), every year, is: Yearly Premium Liability + Out-of-Pocket Liabi…

Was the monthly premium covering more than you? Paying $950/month is you paying almost 100% of the premium and your employer paying nothing.

I had the opposite experience. I found US health insurance reasonable and it covered more than in my original country (which didn’t cover the latest cancer treatments and had long waiting lines). If I got seriously ill and had good insurance I’d return to the US for care than stay where I am today in a developed country.

Re: Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

#270

Post by refurb »

AnotherGoodName wrote: post #228
ericmay wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree completely. I think these numbers look more realistic as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)... Sorry for the "downvotes are the disagree button" that you are experiencing for raising good and interesting discussion points, and frankly calling out misleading numbers that were posted. I didn't know that the average German was worse off and poorer than the average person from Greece…

That reinforces the whole point i'm making. The USA is wealthier per person. The USA is poorer on median wealth. This occurs because the wealth is concentrated in a small number of extremely wealthy people whilst the typical person is poorer. This can be easily fixed to the benefit of the majority with higher taxes on the ultra rich.

The point you’re making seems to change every time someone provides data that shows it’s not accurate.

First it was Australia was 3x wealthier than the US. Now it’s that the US is poorer on a median level, yet I see no data.

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